The End of It All
by KagomeattheWell
Summary: I apologize for the dull title. This is a alternate version of how HPatDH could have ended, starting at the end of chapter 31. It retains some of the original lines, but definitely not a lot.
1. Chapter 1

The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart. Harry felt himself flying through the air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only weapon, and shield his head in his arms: He heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what happened to them -

And then the world resolved itself into pain and semidarkness: He was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack. Cold air told him that the side of the castle had been blown away, and hot stickiness on his cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that expressed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse could cause, and he stood up, swaying, more frightened that he had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than he had been in his life…

And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three redheaded men were grouped on the ground where the wall had bashed apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.

"No- no- no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"

And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred was choking on something unseen. He dry heaved and coughed and his eyes rolled back, but nothing came out. Suddenly, his body reeled into a fit convulsions, limbs flailing, head shaking, still coughing. Ron and Percy immediately lunged at his arms, legs, and head, trying to hold him down. Hermione ran forward to force them off.

"No!" she shrieked, "You'll break his neck!"

They stood back and watched in agony as Fred seizured violently. It stopped. The only thing that moving was the unsteady rise and fall of Fred's chest.

"Fred," Ron whispered, hesitantly, "Fred are you alright?"

They waited for an answer in the cold wind to the sounds of the war going on without them. After minutes of stillness, Fred's breathing steadied, and a familiar smile crept onto his face.

"Dandy," he said in a croaky-frog voice, but as soon as he had done so, his eyes widened and he turned onto his side, curled up in pain.

"Fred!" the group yelled as they ran towards him. They laid their hands upon his side and the back of his head as he shivered and coughed. He uncurled himself and looked at a dark puddle in horror, and the others stared at the corner of his mouth. His smile had been replaced with his lips, slightly ajar, tainted dark and dripping a mix of spittle, blood, and something dark. He spat more out and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He bent over and released some more.

"Maybe," he mused, wiping his hand once more, "I'm not as dandy as I thought."


	2. Chapter 2

A cold breeze blew through the hole in the wall, bringing with it the wails and sounds of war in the rest of the school. Ron and Percy struggled to lift Fred up, both with arms around his waist, and his arms around their shoulders. Hermione wiped a bit of blood off the faces of all three brothers as she blinked back tears and tried to look strong.

"Are we all alright?" she questioned, looking specifically at Fred. Ron grunted, Percy nodded, and Fred grinned wildly, unaware of the red staining his teeth.

"I'm doing bloody well myself," he chuckled, and Ron sighed.

"I have half a mind to drop you," he growled, but Fred kept laughing.

"It's a lot better than 'holey', isn't it though?" and even Ron smiled a bit.

"I've missed a lot since I've been gone, haven't I?" Percy said suddenly, and all eyes turned to him, "Ron, you've grown so much. You're a lot braver than I could have ever guessed. Of course, Fred, still the joker. I've definitely missed out. I don't think there will ever be a day I don't regret it. I'm glad I'm back though. It's nice being where I know I'm supposed to be-" He turned and looked at his brothers through glasses speckled with blood, "with my family." Ron's expression brightened a bit, and Fred ruffled Percy's hair weakly.

"Aw, Percipoo, we've missed you too!" Fred cooed, "And yes, you should regret it. I don't know how you lived without me. In fact, I'd hug you with I could support my own bodyweight."

"Same here," Ron said, "I'd hug you if I could support Fred's bodyweight." The brothers beamed at each other, and Fred used the little strength in his arms to draw them in closer.

"Group hug!" he shouted, and Hermione walked up to join.

"Are you sure your okay?" she asked once more, her voice breaking a little. Harry watched from afar as the four hugged, a heartwarming scene of love and destruction, with blood-soaked clothes and debris all around. A Death Eater on the floor began to move, but Harry was quick to stop him.

"Stupefy!" he yelled, wand mere inches from the opposition's face. The Death Eater fell back, still weak from the explosion. Harry looked up at the group, now broken from their hug. "I'll go ahead. Take Fred somewhere safe!" he commanded, already running from the scene.

"Harry!" echoed Hermione's voice behind him, but he was too far gone, and all they remaining group could do was watch his back as he rushed back into war.

Invisible cloak strewn sloppily over him, Harry dodged curses and sucker punches as he hurried through brawls and duels in the hallways and corridors in what once was his safe place. He watched as the place he had considered his first real home was reduced to shambles and riddled with corpses. Suddenly, the burning on his scar heightened to an extreme he had never felt before. He howled with pain and threw himself to the sidelines of battle, cowering where no one had time enough to wander over. The visions came.

Voldemort was conversing with an obviously shaken Lucius Malfoy, who was looking more sickly by the minute. Lucius did not dare disobey his Dark Master, however, and swiftly obliged when Voldemort called for Severus Snape. Lucius rushed out of sight, leaving only Voldemort and the one thing Harry was looking for: Nagini, the last horcrux.

With a gasp, Harry sat up and opened his eyes, at the same moment his ears were assaulted with the screeches and cries, the smashes and bangs of battle. He knew where Voldemort was. The Shrieking Shack.

Harry continued his journey through the battle, going even faster than before. He sped past familiar faces with unfamiliar twists: McGonagall with her hair down and face sliced on the cheek, leading a group of students to charge, Parvati unkempt with sweat and dust and blood, Dean attacking the Death Eaters with a menagerie of wands he had since collected. Even Peeves was joining the side of Hogwarts, dropping Snargaluff pods on the heads of unsuspecting Death Eaters and chortling in pleasure as their heads were suddenly engulfed with wriggling green tubers like fat worms. Even as he scurried by, Harry admired their bravery. He, however, had a mission of his own.

He took two steps at a time up the marble staircase, and nearly toppled backwards when the top was blocked off by yet another student and attacker: Draco Malfoy and an unknown Death Eater. Knowing Ron would not have approved, Harry Stunned the Death Eater that was in his way. Draco looked around, beaming, for his savior, and Harry did something he was sure Ron could approve of: he gave the Death Eater a slight push and let him tumble downwards before giving Draco a quick punch in the gut.

"Second time I've saved your life tonight!" Harry shouted as he ran away, leaving Draco doubled over and utterly bemused.

There were more duels in the halls and on the stairs: Flitwick versus Yaxley, Kingsley against an masked, hooded one. Students dragged injured friends off to the side, and went back to battle straight after. As Harry reached the end, he saw Neville emerge out of nowhere, brandishing armfuls of Venomous Tentacula, which looped itself happily around the nearest Death Eater and began reeling him in. In the next room, even Grawp, Hagrid, and Trelawney were attacking. To Grawp, the battle seemed more like a game, and he giggled as he deciphered which tiny people were the ones Hagrid disliked, grabbing them and tossing them across the room. Grawp snatched up Fenrir Greyback off the feebly moving body of Lavender Brown, and threw him out the window angrily when the werewolf bit down on the giant's large fingers. Hagrid hooted approvingly to Grawp, and Grawp grinned and clapped his hands. Harry let them be.

As soon as he left the room, all hope was sucked from his being. He remembered the corpses, the pain, the blood. His mind was littered with images of Fred's seizure, Lavender's barely living condition, his own misfortunes at the hand of Voldemort. He knew this feeling. Dementors.

Though he knew he should cast the Patronus, he had lost the will. A hundred dementors slowly creeped towards him, but he felt he had lost already. Soon his soul was leaving his body, and he made no move to stop it…

Suddenly, a silver hare soared past him, followed by a boar and a fox. The three flew about as the dementors fell back, and Harry's soul slowly returned.

"Are you alright?" Luna inquired as she tugged the cloak off of Harry.

"We saw the dementors taking someone's soul, and since the person was invisible, Luna said it was you," Seamus explained as he helped Harry up. Ernie picked up the invisibility cloak.

"C'mon Harry," Luna encouraged, "Think of something happy!" Harry scowled.

"Something happy?" he said, his voice cracking.

"We're all here," she responded, "We're still fighting. Come on, now…"

There was a silver spark, then a wavering light, and then, with the greatest effort it had ever cost him, the stag burst from the end of Harry's wand. It cantered forward, and now the dementors scattered in earnest, and immediately the night was mild again, but the sounds of the surrounding battle were loud in his ears.

"Can't thank you enough," he said shakily, turning towards his trio of saviors. Luna patted him on the back.

"Go on. You look like you have to go somewhere." And he nodded in resolve.

After struggling through more duels and battles, Harry made it to the base of the Whomping Willow. He found the entrance quickly, and fixed the invisibility cloak. He knew the path he had chosen- to meet Voldemort here, despite the fact it may be a trap- was the right one. It seemed like it was the only thing he was sure of in the whole world.

As he entered the Shrieking Shack, he heard the voices of two easily recognizable enemies: Snape and Voldemort.

"The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine."

"My Lord!"

"There is no other way. I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last."

Finally the scene came into view, and Harry watched as Voldemort swiped the air with the Elder Wand, and Nagini slithered forward. The next word spoken was in Parseltongue: "_Kill_."

The snake lunged forward, and Snape dodged it at first, but soon it wrapped its tail around his body and began to constrict. Its head hovered above him, and right before it struck him, Snape freed his wand. The snake bit down on Snape's neck, but before it bit again, a fire erupted from the end of the wand. Harry recognized it at once: Fiendfyre. The snake's head went up in flames, and it crawled down its body . Voldemort howled in agony, disaperating at once. Harry scuttled forward, removing the cloak.

"Potter," Snape said breathily, with wide eyes, "There is one more."

"One more what?"

"Horcrux. The seventh Horcrux, Potter, an accidental one. Voldemort himself does not know of its existence, but he must destroy it himself. If he does, he will be completely mortal. If you want him to die-" he writhed in pain, "give it to him."

"What is the last horcrux?"

"You are boy. You are."


End file.
